A specialized plane equipped with advanced sensors that the government deploys to chemical disasters could have helped authorities avoid needlessly blowing open five rail tank cars and burning their toxic contents after the disastrous 2023 East Palestine train derailment, a new report says.
The report released Tuesday found the single-engine Cessna wasn't called into action until the night before the rail cars filled with vinyl chloride were blown open because officials with the Environmental Protection Agency on the ground didn't fully understand the aircraft's sophisticated capabilities.
The report by the EPA's Inspector General said the agency's on-scene coordinator mistakenly thought the so-called ASPECT plane could only measure 20- to 30-degree differences in temperature. In reality, the report noted, the sensors can measure slight temperature differences of less than 1 degree.
That information could have helped first responders avoid the key mistake the National Transportation Safety Board identified of blowing open the tank cars filled with the toxic plastic ingredient.
The on-scene coordinator’s “limited awareness or use of the full range of ASPECT capabilities could negatively impact emergency response decision-making,” the report said.
The explosion and fire generated a massive plume of black smoke over East Palestine that billowed eastward over the nearby Ohio-Pennsylvania border three days after the derailment. State and local officials in charge of the response feared those tank cars would explode even though the limited temperature information they had showed the cars were starting to cool off.
The National Transportation Safety Board had previously faulted the Norfolk Southern railroad for not sharing the opinion of the chemical maker that the vinyl chloride wasn't going to explode with decisionmakers. Norfolk Southern has said OxyVinyls officials offered conflicting information that left the railroad's experts worried about a dangerous chemical reaction.
Much of the small town of East Palestine had to be evacuated for days because of the toxic chemical fire. Many residents still complain of lingering health symptoms, fearful of potential long-term health consequences.
The EPA has maintained that dangerous levels of chemicals were never found after the evacuation order was lifted five days after the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment.
Some have questioned whether the agency did enough to detect the chemicals in the aftermath and doctors are still trying to determine what prolonged exposure to low levels of the chemicals might mean. Recently released records show officials with the Federal Emergency Management Administration have acknowledged residents' fears that cancer clusters could develop years from now in area residents despite the EPA's assurances.
Robert Kroutil, the man who wrote the software and helped interpret the data from the plane's advanced radiological and infrared sensors, has said having accurate temperature data from the plane could have helped avoid the vent-and-burn operation.
“The report noted that EPA officials believe that the on-ground monitoring equipment provided superior detection capabilities, which is incorrect,” Kroutil said. "This demonstrates EPA’s complete lack of understanding of the ASPECT technology and how it works to protect chemically impacted sites.”
The East Palestine derailment was the worst rail disaster in a decade. It prompted a national reckoning with rail safety and calls for reform — although proposals for new industry rules stalled in Congress.
The railroad's contractors who led the response to the derailment told the NTSB they had difficulty getting accurate temperature readings on the cars because the fire surrounding them made it especially dangerous. Kroutil's concerns prompted the IG investigation.
The EPA said in its official response to the report that it has developed a detailed fact sheet and plans to train its emergency responders about the plane’s capabilities and when it should be deployed over the next year. But the agency didn't immediately respond Tuesday to questions about the delayed response in East Palestine.
The Government Accountability Project watchdog group that helped Kroutil document his concerns questioned why the Inspector General didn't look into other aspects like Kroutil's concerns that the plane's sensors were intentionally shut off over the creeks around East Palestine and that the final report on the flights was changed to overlook the incomplete data that was generated in just two flights before the plane was sent home.
GAP's Senior Environmental Officer Lesley Pacey said “the investigation’s scope was too narrow, failing to address the most serious allegations.”
The EPA didn't even call for the sensor plane until two nights after the derailment when officials were already contemplating the vent-and-burn operation.
The plane took off from its Texas base within a half hour of getting the call, but it didn't make a pass over the derailment as it flew into the area that night, and then weather conditions kept it from flying during the controversial burn operation the next day. It didn't gather any data until the following day after most of the chemicals had already been distributed by the wind.
The Inspector General said the emails and documents it reviewed showed that officials followed existing practices on deploying the plane, but those procedures lacked the clarity needed to help them decide when to deploy the plane.
FILE - Whistleblower Robert Kroutil stands for a portrait in Olathe, Kan., on May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
FILE - A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Police released new video and a description of a potential suspect and renewed their search for the shooter who killed two Brown University students and wounded nine others, a day after they released a person of interest in the case.
Here's a look at what to know about the shootings and the search:
Authorities announced the detained man's release during a news conference late Sunday. That marked a setback in the investigation of Saturday's attack on the Ivy League school's campus and added to questions about the shooting and investigation.
Police had detained the man at a Rhode Island hotel. State Attorney General Peter Neronha acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, saying, “We have a murderer out there.”
On Monday, Providence police released three videos of the suspect in the attack that show him wearing a mask and a dark two-tone jacket. The footage from about two hours before the shooting provided the clearest images yet of the suspect.
The FBI said the man is about5 feet, 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall, with a stocky build.
The shooting occurred as students were in the first-floor classroom of the engineering building studying for a final.
The gunman fired more than 40 rounds from a 9 mm handgun, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Two handguns were recovered when the person of interest was taken into custody and authorities also found two loaded 30-round magazines, said the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity.
The students who died were MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, an 18-year-old freshman from Brandermill, Virginia, and Ella Cook, a 19-year-old sophomore from a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Umurzokov was an aspiring neurosurgeon and Cook was a student leader of Brown University’s campus Republicans. They were in a study group preparing for an economics final.
One of the nine wounded students has been released from the hospital, university President Christina Paxson said Sunday. Seven others were in critical but stable condition, and one was in critical condition.
Durham Academy, a private K-12 school in Durham, North Carolina, confirmed that a recent graduate, Kendall Turner, was critically wounded and that her parents were with her.
Another wounded student, 18-year-old freshman Spencer Yang of New York City, told the New York Times and the Brown Daily Herald from a hospital bed that there was a mad scramble after the gunman entered the room where he and the other students were studying for finals. Many students ran toward the front of the room, but Yang said he wound up on the ground between some seats and was shot in the leg.
Law enforcement officials were still doing basic investigative work two days after the shooting, such as canvassing local residences and businesses for security camera footage and looking for physical evidence. That has left students and some Providence residents frustrated at gaps in the university’s security and camera systems that helped allow the shooter to disappear.
Kristy dosReis, a spokeswoman for the Providence Police Department, said that at no point did the investigation stand down even after officials appeared to have a breakthrough in the case when they detained a Wisconsin man who they now believe was not involved.
But a lack of campus footage left police seeking tips from the public.
Authorities asked neighborhood residents and businesses for surveillance video that might help identify the attacker. They said Sunday that one reason they lacked video of the shooter was because Brown's engineering building doesn't have many cameras.
Law enforcement on Monday traced the suspect’s movements in the minutes after the attack and searched for physical evidence near the crime scene.
Additional police were sent to Providence schools on Tuesday to reassure worried parents that their kids will be safe with the Brown University shooter on the loose and no indication yet that investigators have zeroed in on a specific suspect in the weekend attack.
Brown University junior Mia Tretta was 15 years old when she was shot in the abdomen during a mass shooting at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California. Two students were killed, and she and two others were wounded.
On Saturday, Tretta was studying in her dorm with a friend when the first message arrived warning of an emergency at the university’s engineering building. As more alerts poured in urging people to remain locked down and stay away from windows, the familiarity of the language made clear what she had feared.
“No one should ever have to go through one shooting, let alone two,” Tretta told the AP by phone Sunday.
Levi Neuwirth, who said he was a Brown senior who used to have class in the room where the shooting happened, said the campus is on edge. But he said students and the rest of the Brown community have been supporting each other and displaying extra kindness in the wake of tragedy.
“Campus is on edge, mourning, grieving, processing, all of the above that folks would expect,” said Neuwirth, of Wallkill, New York. “But I would really highlight that the major sentiment I feel and I know many of my peers feel is a strong sense of community, of love. We have each other’s backs.”
Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Contributing were Associated Press reporters Kimberlee Kruesi, Amanda Swinhart, Robert F. Bukaty and Jennifer McDermott in Providence; Michael Casey in Boston; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Kathy McCormack and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Alanna Durkin Richer, Mike Balsamo and Eric Tucker in Washington.
A community member looks at flowers, notes and mementos in a makeshift memorial display sitting in front of Brown University's Van Wickle gates, in Providence, R.I., two days after a shooting took place on the university's campus, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (Lily Speredelozzi/The Sun Chronicle via AP)
This combo image made with photos provided by the FBI and the Providence, Rhode Island, Police Department shows a person of interest in the shooting that occurred at Brown University in Providence, R.I., Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025. (FBI/Providence Police Department via AP)
Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team search for evidence near the campus of Brown University, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A police vehicle is parked at an intersection near crime scene tape at Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following a Saturday shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Passers-by walk past crime scene tape at an entrance to Brown University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., following the Saturday, Dec. 13, shooting at the university. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Police tape off hotel rooms where the person of interest was arrested in a shooting, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Coventry, R.I. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi)
People hold candles during a vigil, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Providence, R.I., for those injured or killed during the Saturday shooting on Brown University campus. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
A bouquet of flowers rests on snow, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, on the campus of Brown University not far from where a shooting took place, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
